SolarWinds Corp banner hanging on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the day of the company’s initial public offering in New York, USA, October 19, 2018.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Hackers who accessed government networks through SolarWinds software potentially accessed about 3% of Justice Department email accounts, but there is no indication that they accessed confidential systems, a DOJ spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday .
The DOJ Office of Chief Information Officer learned of the hack on Christmas Eve, according to the statement, where agents accessed the Department’s Microsoft Office 365 email environment.
“As part of the ongoing technical review, the department has determined that the activity constitutes a major incident under the Federal Information Security Modernization Act and is taking steps consistent with that determination,” said the spokesman. “The department will continue to notify the appropriate federal agencies, Congress and the public as warranted.”
On Tuesday, US intelligence agencies said the Russians were probably behind the breach, which impacted several government departments. Microsoft was also a victim of the hack, Reuters reported in December.
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